The London Guantánamo has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Human rights for all.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

On 21 February, media sources reported that
British former Guantánamo prisoner Jamal Al-Harith (born Ronald Fiddler), 50,
died in the Iraqi city of Mosul in a suicide bombing in which he had detonated
a car bomb. He was alleged to be a member of the militant Islamic State group.
British state media reported that it “understands” this to be the
case based on a photograph of Mr Al-Harith which has been confirmed by his
family. The claim has generated a polemic in the media concerning the out-of-court
settlement the government reached with former Guantánamo prisoners in 2010,
the alleged radicalisation of former prisoners, and surveillance.

All such reports and the media furore remain purely speculative.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has yet to confirm that a British citizen
died in Mosul on 19 February or identify them. While former Prime Minister Tony
Blair has waded into the storm, there has been no comment by either Foreign
Secretary Boris Johnson or the police. The comment offered by the Foreign Office to the media is
general advice for all UK citizens: “The UK has advised for some time
against all travel to Syria, and against all travel to large parts of Iraq.

"As all UK consular services are suspended in Syria
and greatly limited in Iraq, it is extremely difficult to confirm the
whereabouts and status of British nationals in these areas."”

Mr Al-Harith’s death, and even presence in Iraq, is
unconfirmed and the LGC shall consider all such news stories to be speculation until
official confirmation is provided.

It is important nonetheless to provide clarification on some
of the fiction reported as news:

British nationals and
residents formerly held at Guantánamo have returned to ordinary civilian lives
and remain under heavy surveillance by the authorities, as released prisoners
are elsewhere. None have been tried at Guantánamo or since their release to the
UK in relation to their imprisonment at Guantánamo Bay.

Eighty
six percent of all Guantánamo prisoners were sold to the US military by the
Pakistani and Afghan military, intelligence and warlords. Only one of the remaining
41 prisoners – an Afghan cleared for release – was captured by the US
military. Mr Al-Harith
ended up in the hands of the US military after being sold by the Northern
Alliance. He arrived at Guantánamo in February 2002 and was initially cleared
for release by September that year. Further allegations about alleged militant
links did not surface until more than one year later in late 2003. He was
released months later in 2004.

With heavy surveillance of
former prisoners it is very unlikely that any wrongdoing would not have been
noticed by the police or intelligence services. Since claims that Mr Al-Harith
has joined the Islamic State group emerged two years ago, the police have not
issued any statements in this regard, nor has the media used the police as a
source of information, even though this is the job of the police.

Former prisoners reached an
out-of-court settlement with the British government in 2010 to prevent a court
case that would likely disclose evidence of British state involvement in crimes
against humanity committed against British nationals and residents.
Compensation would involve an admission of guilt by the government and its
breach of its international obligations on human rights. At the time, then “Foreign
Secretary William Hague denied the deal was an admission that security agencies
colluded in any mistreatment. In response to questions, he said the settlement
reflected the desire to "move on" and be able to conduct an inquiry.”
The money paid to prevent the prisoners from pursuing claims that would be
embarrassing to the government was effectively hush money, once more denying the
former prisoners their day in court.

Although Tony Blair’s
government negotiated the return of all British nationals held at Guantánamo
Bay by 2005, it was complicit in them ending up at Guantánamo in the first
place and aware of the torture they faced even before they arrived there. It
should further be noted that Tony Blair’s government were the architects of a
Guantánamo-style regime of indefinite arbitrary detention without charge or
trial of foreign nationals at HMP Belmarsh months before Guantánamo Bay opened
under the 2001
Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act. This was ruled unlawful by the
House of Lords in 2004.

These claims were followed by a news story in TheSunday Times on 26 February (free access to article reprinted
here) that claims a second British former Guantánamo prisoner has travelled
to Syria to fight with the Islamic State. This report follows a story to this
effect by the ultra-right-wing Henry Jackson Society. Only bearing the moniker
Abu Mugheera al-Britani, reports of this individual do not match any of the
British prisoners held at Guantánamo and after more than two years of reports,
his existence has not been confirmed by the police or Foreign Office and no
information other than the nickname above has been given.

Furthermore, this individual – who may exist but does not
appear to have been held at Guantánamo – has been linked, along with Jamal
Al-Harith, to a former Russian prisoner, Airat
Vakhitov. Although subject to UN, European and US sanctions since 2016 due
to alleged links to militant groups, there is no evidence that Mr Vakhitov has
any stage been a fighter anywhere. He is currently facing trial in Turkey:
arrested around the same time as the 2016 Istanbul Airport bombing, the media falsely
reported he was linked to the attack. He is facing charges of alleged
membership of a terrorist organisation and visa irregularities. A Russian
dissident who used his journalistic writing to raise awareness of the abuse of
minorities and Muslims in the Russian Federation, the Russian government is
actively seeking his return to the country.

As a human rights campaign, the LGC maintains that the only
legitimate forum to decide on the innocence or guilt of any individual is a
court of law. The current media narrative is central to the myth of the
“recidivism” of former prisoners. Recidivism involves having offended in the
first place. Neither Mr Al-Harith nor Mr Vakhitov, actual Guantánamo prisoners,
were charged or tried. In addition, while ignoring the humanitarian civilian
catastrophe unfolding in Mosul as Iraqi forces and the Islamic State do battle,
such stories help to push for greater involvement by the US and British
militaries in Iraq. A similar pattern over the past 15 years, the truth has
never mattered where Guantánamo
is concerned.

In February 2007, inspired by the late Brian Haw’s
permanent peaceful vigil opposite Parliament against the Iraq War, the
LGC started regular protests outside the US Embassy in London to remind the
people inside that the whole world had not forgotten about the plight of the
prisoners at Guantánamo. First on a weekly basis, from February 2007 to August 2008,
and monthly ever since, the LGC has had a regular presence outside the US Embassy come rain or shine,
transport strike or snowfall.

The first protest in February 2007

The LGC did not fail to see the prejudiced and
discriminatory nature of the US’ post-9/11 policies: all the men held at
Guantánamo are Muslim and non-American. There has been just a handful of
prosecutions after 15 years out of the almost 800 prisoners held there. Of the
41 men who remain, none were captured by the US military or in Afghanistan:
they were predominantly kidnapped or arrested by foreign intelligence and
military forces and sold to the US, as were up to 90%
of the Guantánamo prisoners in total.

We have used these regular protests to show solidarity with
other prisoners of the war on terror as well – Dr Aafia Siddiqui,
Palestinian-American prisoner in Iraq Shawki
Ahmed Omar, extradited Britons Babar
Ahmad and Talha Ahsan, Chelsea Manning – as well as other US prisoners such
as Mumia Abu Jamal and the hunger strikers at maximum security prisons in
California in 2013.

2012, marking our 5th anniversary, the Guantánamo prisoners were not forgotten by us

When Barack Obama failed to close Guantánamo Bay by 2010 and
interest in the issue died down, even though over 200 prisoners remained there,
the LGC’s regular demos were one of the few reminders anywhere of what was
happening at Guantánamo. With similar protests held outside US Embassies by
prisoners’ family members in countries like Kuwait, it was an honour to be a
part of the small but persistent circle that never gave up.

2014 protest

On 2 February, we will mark the tenth anniversary of this
regular action. Over the past few years, on the first Thursday of each month,
the protest has consisted of an hour (12-1pm) outside the US Embassy in
Grosvenor Square and an hour (1.15-2.15pm) outside Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park
(opposite Marble Arch), where there are more passers-by and tourists who are
receptive and welcoming of our cause. This action is also our first
demonstration under the Trump administration, which is continuing the policies
of its predecessors at Guantánamo. Please join us https://www.facebook.com/events/706025256245152/

The LGC will also join the Stop The War Coalition’s Stop Trump’s Muslim
Ban protest starting at 11am on Saturday 4 February at the US Embassy to march to Downing. If you
can help us hand out leaflets to raise awareness or draw attention to this
ongoing injustice by three US administrations, please get in touch.

Take action!

We hold a regular monthly demonstration calling for the closure of Guantánamo Bay. Our March demonstration is on Thursday 8 March at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy, 33 Nine Elms Ln, London SW11 7US: https://www.facebook.com/events/975903689224552/

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About Me

The London Guantánamo Campaign has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Also on Facebook and Twitter.